W Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is more delightful than wine.

Take me with you—let us hurry.
Oh, that the king would bring me to his chambers.

Y We will rejoice and be glad for you;
we will praise your love more than wine.

W It is only right that they adore you.

Tell me, you, the one I love:
Where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you let them rest at noon?
Why should I be like one who veils herself
beside the flocks of your companions?

My love is a sachet of myrrh to me,
spending the night between my breasts.

My love is a cluster of henna blossoms to me,
in the vineyards of En-gedi.

W How handsome you are, my love.
How delightful!
Our bed is lush with foliage;

W Like an apricot tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banquet hall,
and he looked on me with love.

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.

Listen! My love is approaching.
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.

My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Look, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.

My love calls to me:

M Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.

W My love is mine and I am his;
he feeds among the lilies.

Before the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
turn to me, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the divided mountains.

>

In my bed at night
I sought the one I love;
I sought him, but did not find him.

I will arise now and go about the city,
through the streets and the plazas.
I will seek the one I love.
I sought him, but did not find him.

The guards who go about the city found me.
I asked them, “Have you seen the one I love?”

I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house—
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.

He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold,
and its seat of purple.
Its interior is inlaid with love
by the young women of Jerusalem.

How delightful your love is, my sister, my bride.
Your love is much better than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.

W Awaken, north wind—
come, south wind.
Blow on my garden,
and spread the fragrance of its spices.
Let my love come to his garden
and eat its choicest fruits.

>

M I have come to my garden—my sister, my bride.
I gather my myrrh with my spices.
I eat my honeycomb with my honey.
I drink my wine with my milk.

N Eat, friends!
Drink, be intoxicated with love!

W I sleep, but my heart is awake.
A sound! My love is knocking!

M Open to me, my sister, my darling,
my dove, my perfect one.
For my head is drenched with dew,
my hair with droplets of the night.

My love thrust his hand through the opening,
and my feelings were stirred for him.

I rose to open for my love.
My hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with flowing myrrh
on the handles of the bolt.

I opened to my love,
but my love had turned and gone away.
I was crushed that he had left.
I sought him, but did not find him.
I called him, but he did not answer.

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:
if you find my love,
tell him that I am lovesick.

Y What makes the one you love better than another,
most beautiful of women?
What makes him better than another,
that you would give us this charge?

W My love is fit and strong,
notable among ten thousand.

His mouth is sweetness.
He is absolutely desirable.
This is my love, and this is my friend,
young women of Jerusalem.

>

Y Where has your love gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way has he turned?
We will seek him with you.

W My love has gone down to his garden,
to beds of spice,
to feed in the gardens
and gather lilies.

I am my love’s and my love is mine;
he feeds among the lilies.

How beautiful you are and how pleasant,
my love, with such delights!

Your mouth is like fine wine—

W flowing smoothly for my love,
gliding past my lips and teeth!

I belong to my love,
and his desire is for me.

Come, my love,
let’s go to the field;
let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms.

Let’s go early to the vineyards;
let’s see if the vine has budded,
if the blossom has opened,
if the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.

The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
and at our doors is every delicacy—
new as well as old.
I have treasured them up for you, my love.

>

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.

Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death;
ardent love is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames—
the fiercest of all.

Mighty waters cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth for love,
it would be utterly scorned.

W Hurry to me, my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.